Port opens after spill

Loss now placed at 63,231 gallons, Coast Guard says

Coast Guard officials announced plans to partially reopen Corpus
Christi Harbor to traffic today and now believe an earlier oil spill
estimate was more than 100,000 gallons too high.

Coast Guard officers previously said about 172,000 gallons of oil
had spilled into the harbor after water used to fight a fire at the
Valero refinery and heavy rains caused tanks that catch waste oil to
overflow. But on Friday they estimated the spill was closer to 63,231
gallons - 63,000 from Valero and 231 from Citgo. That's about three
large swimming pools-full, rather than eight.

"Usually what happens is the first couple of estimates are kind of
crazy because the oil companies are trying to figure out how much was
in the tank," said Petty Officer Adam Eggers. "Valero knew how much was
in the tank before the fire, but there's no way to tell how much was
burned off in the fire."

The numbers still are preliminary. Bob Grimes, director of public
affairs for Valero, said the company won't know for sure how much oil
there was until it has cleaned it all up.

The Citgo spill was mostly cleaned up Friday evening when the Port
of Corpus Christi announced it would open the east section of the
harbor to limited traffic during daylight hours today. Tony Alejandro,
deputy director of operations at the port, said 10 or 11 ships were
waiting to come into the harbor and three ships were waiting to get
out. They were allowed to move on a priority basis once the Coast Guard
had inspected their hulls for oil. The companies affected helped
determine the priorities, Alejandro said.

"This happens on a regular basis, whether it's caused by a spill or
a hurricane or fog or whatever," Alejandro said. "This is not their
first rodeo."

Valero was forced to cut its production by 30 percent on Thursday to
repair fire damage at the company's dock - that meant 50,000 fewer
barrels per day of gasoline production and 20,000 fewer barrels per day
of distillate. Chuck Cazalas, Citgo spokesman, said Citgo's production
was also affected as barges were unable to move between the company's
two plants, but he was not sure how much.

Cazalas said the problem should be taken care of now that movement
was being allowed again. And Grimes said production at Valero was
ramping back up to normal rates as repairs were finished.

To put the slowdown in perspective, Ron Planting, an economist with
the American Petroleum Institute, said about nine million barrels of
gasoline are produced every day in the United States. The loss of
50,000 barrels was not negligible, he said, but its effect could be
softened by the use of surplus oil the companies might have or by extra
imports - the United States has seen strong gasoline imports lately, he
said.

So far, the oil has had a limited effect on area wildlife, said Ken
Rice, a biologist with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. One
pelican that landed in the oil was being cleaned up at the Texas State
Aquarium. Rice said the bird had something wrong with its wing, which
kept it from seeking food elsewhere, as healthy birds do during oil
spills.

The oil had not leaked into Tule Lake. Some did make its way into a
marsh area around the aquarium, but Rice said it was being cleaned up.
It does not present as much of a concern as oil in Tule Lake would have
because the area is much smaller, he said.